Grant Career Center has always had a mentor program in place, and while some years, it was more successful than others depending on the number of volunteers we were able to secure from our industry and community partners. This year, Grant Career Center took a fresh approach to mentoring, giving every student an opportunity to connect with a mentor.
The GRIT Project (GRIT) is a collaborative effort to build a workforce that can meet the needs of a growing economy while also stimulating economic growth. The coalition utilizes local schools, local businesses, the chamber of commerce, churches, libraries, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies to find the resources that students need to find employment. These organizations work together to find these resources.
The first phase of the GRIT initiative concentrated its efforts on five counties in the state of Ohio: Adams, Brown, Highland, Pike, and Scioto. Since then, the scope of the project has been broadened to encompass the counties of Clermont, Lawrence, Gallia, Jackson, Ross, and Vinton.
Students are given the individualized assistance they require in order to understand their strengths and how it maps into the modern workforce through the GRIT program.
Following the completion of a career assessment (futureplans.com), each student will participate in a one-on-one coaching session with a career specialist. Through these discussions, a plan is developed to enroll in work skills training, if it is determined that this is necessary, and then to identify jobs in their career field.
Not long after the start of the new school year, students at Grant Career Center began participating in GRIT and took their career assessments. The students have started meeting with their mentors virtually starting last week.
Junior at Grant Career Center (NRHS) Maddox May recently met with his career mentor, and the two of them talked about his upcoming plans. "When I graduate from high school, I see myself relocating to either Florida or Hawaii." According to Maddox, "My mentor Paula, she was able to pull up my potential salary for my field of interest, which is welding, and we discussed what it might take to move there. We also went over my Future Plans survey.”
Students are assisted in analyzing all of their strengths through the use of the Future Plans Survey, and they are encouraged to investigate all fields that are a good fit for those strengths. Grant Career Center is assisting students in gaining a better understanding of their own skills and the employment opportunities available to them after graduation in light of the expanding and shifting economy.
For more information, visit GRIT https://www.gritohio.org/ , Future Plans Assessment www.Futureplans.com , and Grant Career Center www.GrantCareer.com .